Education, Research, and Speaking
2019-Present U.S. Fulbright Ambassador selected by the Institute of International Education and Department of State to represent the Fulbright program. Kalina has presented Big Talk workshops to 1000 Masters and PhD students from over 75 countries worldwide.
2017-2018 U.S. Fulbright Program Research Scholar in Singapore in the field of Intercultural Communications and New Media for the research project; "How to Bridge East-West Communications through BIG TALK," and more closely "Evaluating effects of Big Talk in establishing Empathy between Singaporeans and migrant workers in Singapore. Based at the National University of Singapore's School of New Media and Communications (research advisor, Dr. Jude Yew). The research aim is to design and build a BIG TALK system of questioning and communication (through the medium of in person workshops and video recording) that helps to bridge communication gaps and encourage empathy in various intercultural and interpersonal situations. (Final Research Report in progress)
Past Speaking Engagements:
Image courtesy of Malcolm Guess, Photographer
1000 PhD and Masters students from around the world for Fulbright (DC, Atlanta, Nashville, San Diego)
60 Venture Capitalists, Entrepreneurs, and Students for Chai Ventures (Nashville, TN)
150 MFTs for the California Marital Family Therapist Conference (LA)
30 Johnson & Johnson employees (Virtual)
1000 teenage girls for UN’S International Day of the Girl at St. Catherine’s Girls School (VI)
80 Members of the general public for Academy Xi (Melbourne and Sydney, Australia)
90 US Embassy Tashkent exchange alumni and members of the general public (Tashkent, Uzebkistan) -100+ program managers at Acelero Learning’s Senior Leadership Institute (WI)
15 Fulbright Alumni Ambassadors at the Institute of International Education (DC)
30 professionals in Tech at Microsoft Chicago (CHI)
200+ Women at Adobe's Women in Tech Neighborhood Mixer (SF)
20 members of Google's Material Design Team (SF)
200+ Marketing executives and employees at the Elite SEM 2018 Digital Summit - as the keynote speaker (NYC)
100 attendees of the U.S. Embassy in Singapore Exchange Alumni Dinner (Singapore)
30 affiliates of the National University of Singapore's School of New Media and Communications (Singapore)
50 attendees of YSEALI Muslim Women's International Women's Day Event (Singapore)
30 attendees at the SoGal Influencer Summit (Los Angeles)
30 students at Columbia Middle School (Colorado)
50 students at MTSU (Nashville)
100 attendees at Peter Thiel Summit (SF)
20 attendees at Annenberg Innovation Lab at USC (LA)
100 attendees of TEDX Westminster College "How to Skip Small Talk..." (6,00,000+ YouTube views) (Missouri)
2/18/19 Delivering a “Make Big Talk at Work” talk at Microsoft in Chicago.
10/10/19 Speaking to 1000 teenage girls for UN’s International Day of the Girl “Girl’s Innovate” Celebration at St. Catherine’s Girls School
9/8/17 Delivering a Research Seminar at NUS.
9/6/18 Speaking for Elite SEM Digital Summit 2018.
3/17 Delivering talk to Muslim Women in Singapore for International Women's Day 2017.
9/8/2017 Research Talk for NUS.
10/3/2018 Make Big Talk Event for 200+ People from 40+ Tech Companies at the Adobe Women-in-Tech Mixer in San Francisco
TEDx TALK
The above TEDx talk was at Westminster College in Missouri. The virality of the video (6m + views) has led to the formation of partnerships with people and organizations from around the world.
Other Research / Education Work:
Summer Partnership with USC Annenberg Innovation Lab
In the summer of 2015, Kalina worked with the Annenberg Lab to research communication strategies as they relate to the future of innovation. She delivered multiple talks and created a series of videos for the Annenberg website on what the future of innovation looks like.
Co-Founder and President of MIXED student coalition at Northwestern
At Northwestern University, Kalina co-founded and served as President of MIXED, Northwestern's first ever Mixed Race Student Coalition. Through academic and social events, discussions, and internal support, we created a community of students united in their differences.
Edovo Jail Education Solutions Users make BIG TALK
Big Talk partnered with Edovo, Jail Education Solutions startup to create a Big Talk self development and communications course for inmates. Read about it at Edovo's website.
Researcher at the Delta Lab Northwestern (2015)
Breaking Boundaries focuses on exploring novel interactions and connecting people in unusual and unexpected ways.